My te reo class: the stories of our journey to a better understanding of our country

Thursday, 9 August 2018

Sarah Moore, Head of marketing and communications at Neighbourly.

Sarah Moore is taking part in a 12-week te reo course in an effort to show her irāmutu (niece) her whole family values her Māori heritage. This is her fourth column.

OPINION: Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Maori Language Commission) has a handful of basic messages to guide the revitalisation of te reo Maori. These include Māu te reo Māori, mā tātou katoa (te reo Māori is for you, and for everyone) and Mā tātou katoa te reo Māori e whakarauora (everyone can contribute to te reo Māori revitalisation).

This week I've opened up my column to my fellow AUT te reo students; all of us beginning our journey with one of our three official languages.

From embarrassment, a hope for public services to be offered in te reo and English, to an opportunity to be dragged away from prime-time telly, the stories of what set us on this path are all unique but we're connected by a belief that a better understanding of te reo gives us a better understanding of what it means to be Kiwi - or to live in New Zealand.

Brae Epps talks about learning te reo Māori.

* Getting Māori place names right is a matter of respect

* We all have the opportunity to help keep te reo alive

* Te reo hits the rail in Auckland

* Forecast: bad pronunciation with a side of bungles**

Brae Epps (19)

I believe learning te reo Māori will give me the opportunity to further connect with a people, their culture and our country - where I've lived my entire life.

I'm currently studying medicine and I have the goal for myself that one day I'll be able to conduct a full consult in te reo if the patient wishes.

For me this is a way to help start treating inequities in New Zealand healthcare. Learning further about these health disparities was what inspired me to take these classes so I could find a way to do my little bit and lend a hand to combat them.

My biggest hope is that one day, anyone in New Zealand could request a medical consult and be asked the question 'would you like that in English or te reo Māori?'

Rachel Lawson (47)

I hope to see te reo more widely accepted.

That doesn't mean I believe every New Zealander will be fluent or even take on a culture they don't believe is theirs. But acceptance is important; accepting it was the first major language of this land.

Accepting change in what you believe you know about the language and Māori culture - possibly even accepting that what you have been lead to believe is based on generations of misinformation. And to those who say te reo Māori is not important outside of New Zealand, I say embrace it. You are a New Zealander and take pride in that, Kaua e whakama!

Owen Shaw (69)

I want to learn to reo Māori because it is indigenous to New Zealand and is intrinsic to the land, the people and the history of Aotearoa.

Not just Māori people but to all of us.

Working overseas and gaining a working knowledge of their languages taught me that language is a key to understanding the heart of a culture. Some aspects of a culture cannot be expressed or understood properly through the lens of another language.

To understand Māori culture, te reo Māori is fundamental.

Will Sturme (25)

I never really had a huge desire to learn Māori. But the girlfriend is taking the class as part of her degree - plus Māori culture and language is a cool part of our country.

My pronunciation is (was) God awful so I thought it would be a good chance to tidy it up; with the course being free and after work there's not a heap to lose.

Also a better investment in time than watching The Block try and drag 10 minutes of content into an hour.

I hope in the future white boys like me can get the pronunciation of names like Paraparaumu right.

Paul Igo (20)

I'm an exchange student from Vermont and I really want to immerse myself in the New Zealand culture. One of the most important gateways that I know of is through language; it's such a powerful way to connect with people, especially those of a given culture.

Te reo is a breath of fresh air in my otherwise monotonous schedule.

Although te reo may have a hard time growing around the world it has the chance to grow inside New Zealand as it is so closely connected to the New Zealand culture.

It's helping me immerse myself in the culture more - for instance, the effect of being inside a marae would not be the same if the entire time we were spoken to in English.

Elizabeth Brown

I decided to learn te reo Māori out of embarrassment. I lived in Orakei for two years and could not even properly pronounce my own suburb's name. Each time I said the word, I fudged over it.

On two occasions I have met Dr Lance O'Sullivan, advocate for Māori health in the Far North and 2014 New Zealander of the Year. In the course of conversation each time, I happened to mention a Māori place name - with an appalling 'pakeha' pronunciation. He didn't flinch, but I did. I was embarrassed.

But mostly I felt deeply disrespectful because of who he was and what he represented. I felt a really poor version of the New Zealander I wanted to be. I decided no more excuses; time was up and I needed to do something about it.

I'll keep learning te reo because I have discovered something I didn't ever expect: the thrill of potentially being bilingual in my own country. Prior to starting, it hadn't ever occurred to me that that was a possibility as an outcome. How extraordinary it is that we have the opportunity to speak both our country's languages and get to use both of them every day (unlike my French which gets used only every year or two). With te reo, I am falling in love with my country all over again. My pride in the mana and uniqueness of my country has grown even further. I wish for others to experience the joy I have unexpectedly discovered, and to keep learning and speaking it because they want to rather than have to. That to me is the most motivating way to see te reo grow.

Andrew Roddy (32)

I was initially inspired to learn te reo Māori through friends who spoke really positively about their learning experiences. It made me realise how little I knew about the language which was a bit embarrassing, and with AUT offering free te reo Māori courses I thought it was a great opportunity to get into it.

We're pretty lucky in New Zealand to have the rich and diverse Māori culture as part of our history; it's what makes us kiwis different to the rest of the world. Everyone loves the haka but there's also the traditional pōwhiris and beautiful waiatas (Poi E!). So for me, learning te reo is really just about getting a bit closer and more familiar with the language and culture.

It'd be nice if te reo, even just casual greetings and farewells, was used more commonly in everyday life. It feels like that's happening in some workplaces, and you hear te reo more and more on the radio, but it's a long way from hitting the mainstream.